Cal Athletics: Ten Alltime Memories Forged by Golden Bear Guests - Part 4

An unexpected world record and a football showdown that lived up to expectations

Next in our countdown of memorable performances by visitors to Berkeley are two events that couldn't have been more different.

Long-distance runner Henry Rono of Washington State delivered a still-stunning performance at Edwards Stadium in a dual-meet setting before what was likely a sparse crowd.

By contract, there was a huge buildup to the Bears' 1991 football blockbuster vs. Washington, a duel of top-10 opponents that attracted an overflow crowd to Memorial Stadium.

WSU's Henry Rono set 4 world records in 81 days

Photo courtesy of Washington State Athletics

April 8, 1978: Henry Rono begins record binge

There always seemed to be mystery surrounding Henry Rono, the former Washington State distance running star and Nandi tribesman from the Great Rift Valley of Kenya.

According to the Spokane Spokesman Review, Rono arrived at WSU as a 21-year-old freshman. A year later, he was being called 25 or 26.

One thing was never open for debate: Rono could run.

Said John Chaplin, his coach at Washington State, "He really doesn't know when he is supposed to get tired.”

In the spring of 1978, Washington State came to Edwards Stadium for a double-dual track meet vs. Cal and Arizona State. Rono pulled off what simply wasn’t done in a college dual meet — he obliterated a world record.

Rono ran the 5,000 meters in 13 minutes, 8.4 seconds — the most recent of 12 world records set at Edwards.

How fast was his time? It took 4 1/2 seconds off the previous standard and remains the collegiate record more than 42 years later.

His victory at Berkeley triggered an 81-day stretch during which Rono set world records in four events, an achievement unequaled in distance running history.

When he was done, Rono owned the marks for the 3,000 meters, 3,000 steeplechase and the 10,000, along with the 5,000 record he casually pocketed during a college dual meet.

“We, the world, have never seen any runner quite like this; he is just incredible,” said Kenny Moore, a top track and field writer of that era.

Rono captured his third NCAA cross country championship a year later, but he twice was denied the chance to compete in the Olympics by Kenyan boycotts and he never again approached the brilliant success he had over 81 days in 1978, beginning in Berkeley.

Running back Russell White finds an opening vs. Washington.

Oct. 19, 1991: Showdown in Strawberry Canyon

A first-class postage stamp cost 3 cents, disc jockey Alan Freed created the term rock ’n roll and Cal’s Glenn T. Seaborg won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for helping to discover plutonium. It was 1951 and the last time for 40 years that Cal hosted a football game featuring opponents both ranked in the Top-10 of the Associated Press poll.

The No. 9 Bears beat No. 6 Oregon State 34-14 that day in October 1951, and there wasn’t another game of that magnitude played in Memorial stadium until 1991.

So it was a big deal when No. 3 Washington came to Berkeley to play No. 7 Cal in a mid-season battle of unbeatens. ABC televised the game. The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post sent reporters. And a crowd of 74,500 filled the stadium.

“We came in here thinking we were going to win,” Cal coach Bruce Snyder said.

The game see-sawed back and forth. The Huskies gained 441 yards, but the Cal defense allowed them just three points on four trips inside the 20-yard line.

*** Former Cal quarterback Mike Pawlawski discusses the 1991 Washington game:  

Mijke Pawlawski passed for 215 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown to Sean Dawkins. Lindsey Chapman raced 68 yards for a TD on the final play of the third quarter that tied the score at 17-all.

But UW’s Beno Bryant scored on a 65-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter to put the visitors ahead to stay. The Bears still had a shot on the game’s final play, but Washington defensive back Walter Bailey deflected a would-be touchdown pass from Pawlawski to Brian Treggs.

"We're walking out of here knowing that we were in a real fight for our lives," said Washington Coach Don James, whose team finished the season 12-0 and co-national champions after crushing Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

The Bears went on to complete a 10-2 season, but they felt no consolation after their near-miss vs. the Huskies.

"I think we're just as good as they are," said Cal linebacker Mick Barsala. "We had the game, as far as I'm concerned. It slipped away from us at the end.”

“It’s difficult to get anything positive out of a loss,” Snyder said.

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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